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Make-believe marriages

Fay Weldon caused a bit of an outcry last week when she announced that if women wanted an easy life, they should fake the odd orgasm and feign gratitude afterwards.

It seemed an odd pronouncement for someone once considered to be one of this country’s leading feminists, but then a little controversy — be it name-checking the jewellers Bulgari in one of her novels in exchange for “sponsorship”, as Weldon did in her last novel, or now suggesting dissembling in bed — never hurts sales.

But advocating the fake orgasm is problematic especially as she also suggests that women, having failed to get satisfaction, should enthuse at length — “You were magnificent”.

We’re not quite done yet: after the praise comes the champagne, if you please. What’s a quick nocturnal trot to the off-licence in exchange for what Weldon considers to be a recipe for marital happiness? Again, I suppose we should be